The GreenEyed Orphan
by HermioneGranger4343
Summary: Christiana Dalton, daughter of Severus Snape and Lily Evans, finds out about her father's untimely death at the hands of Voldemort. She wants to find her half-brother, Harry Potter and finally tell him that he has family.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Chapter One**

The wind howled mournfully outside the window and rain streaked the window panes as Christiana Dalton sat clutching the letter in her hand as she re-read it for what seemed like the fiftieth time, yet every time the pain tore at her heart anew. The weather matched the way her emotions made her feel inside. Her candle burned very low in its holder. She had no idea how long she had been sitting in this same spot in the same position reading the same damned letter over and over trying to grasp what it said. The letter was from her father's close school friend, Evan Rosier. It bore good news and bad and both affected her life very greatly. Firstly, Lord Voldemort had just been defeated by Harry Potter, and of that she was glad. Secondly, however, her father, Severus Snape, had been killed in that final battle. Many others had also lost their lives, but she was still wondering why her father had to be killed. The letter also stated that Harry Potter did know some about Snape's past and his love for Lily Evans, but the Potter boy still knew nothing of her existence. Her father had apparently given some of his memories over to Harry in his final moments from which Harry obtained a good bit of information about her father's past. However, it seemed that everyone who knew about her and how she had come to be had passed to the hereafter. Those people were Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Evan Rosier.

Christiana stared at the pictures she had framed on her small desk in her small flat in the French wizarding town Chaney. The first picture was of a pretty auburn-haired lady holding a baby with the blackest hair and alternately smiling down at the baby and caressing her face and looking up to the camera and waving. There was a man dressed all in black also with the blackest hair smiling down at the child also. Christiana thought how much she would love to have known her mother. The next picture was of a four-year-old little girl standing next to a man, both with black hair. The little girl's hair was a bit messy, but she was dressed in a little robe and she rode a small broom about two feet off the ground. The picture showed the man help her take off again and again. The little girl's face was filled with laughter. The next picture was of Christiana again, only this time she was eleven and she was awaiting the train to Beauxbatons. She stood with her trunk, a bright blue steaming engine behind her. She was waving and half-smiling at the camera, but there was a wistful look in her eyes.

Christiana remembered that day like it was yesterday…

"Oh, Daddy, why can't I go to Hogwarts where you teach? Then we could be together every day and I wouldn't have to live with the Daltons anymore. I just want to be with you all the time. It's not fair." The Daltons were the Muggle family that had raised Christiana.

"I've explained it to you already, Christy," Severus said in a gentle voice that no student at Hogwarts would every experience.

Christiana sighed. "I know. If You-Know-Who found out about me and how I was related to The Boy Who Lived, he would try to kill me, too. But, Daddy, I'm your daughter. Since he knows you and you pretend to serve him, would he really hurt me?"

"My dear, that knowledge would only make things worse, _because_ I work for him. I am so sorry, but I will come and see you every opportunity I get and you know I'll send an owl at least twice a week." Tears welled in Christiana's eyes. This was her first year at Wizarding School, and special accommodations had had to be made. She had been accepted to Hogwarts, but because of her situation, Severus had made a special request of the headmistress of Beauxbatons. She had conceded to allow Christiana to the school as long as no one else found out about her.

Christiana now thought about her mother, Lily Evans. She remembered when she had asked her father why her mother never came to see her. Her father had looked extremely pained and uncomfortable, but explained anyway. He had loved her mother, Lily Evans, very much, and for a time, she had loved him, too. While in their sixth year at Hogwarts together, he and Lily had gone a little too far and conceived Christiana. Lily had not even wanted to have the baby, but with the promise of wiping her memory clean and making as if it never were, Lily had agreed to give the baby away. However, Severus refused to give his offspring to anyone else. It had been an uphill battle, but finally an agreement had been reached. The Daltons, a Muggle family, were let in on the whole secret situation. Albus Dumbledore had a huge job, because he had to clean the memories of everyone Lily and Severus attended school with of Lily's pregnancy. The Daltons would take the baby and raise him or her and inform this child of the wizarding world. Snape would be allowed to see the child any time he wished seeing as he was the father, but the child would take the Dalton name seeing as the Muggle society would question whether or not it was their child.

When all was said and done, all the memories modified, Snape, his friend Evan, and Albus Dumbledore were the only ones who still knew of her existence and connections to the wizarding world. They were the only ones who knew, for example, after Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter, that she was also a living relative of his, being his half-sister. Unfortunately, in Christiana's opinion, he didn't know about her.

Christiana glanced at the next picture on her desk. It was a picture of Christiana, her father, and her O.W.L. scores. She had gotten an OWL in every subject. He was so proud of her. They were smiling and hugging, and he had even given her a kiss on the forehead. Fresh tears gushed down her cheeks as she realized she would never embrace him or kiss him on the cheek again. She glanced at another picture of her with her father on her last day at Beauxbatons the year before. The last picture was of her mother, only she was with a man with dark messy hair and glasses. They were holding a small child with eyes just like his mother's. He was giggling and pointing at something outside of the picture. That was the only thing that Christiana thought she shared with her mother: the eyes. Harry had those eyes and so did his half-sister.

She pushed her silky black hair out of her face and looked out of the window into the pouring rain. She leaned her head against the glass and her breath made little clouds on the cold pane. No more tears ran down her face. She was as cold and numb as her forehead was growing pressed against the windowpane. Her father, the only person she loved in this whole world, was gone. He had left her. She realized that although she was an adult and of age, she was an orphan. She stared into the cold black night long after her candle had burned out. She didn't even remember falling asleep.

*

When Christiana woke, pale gray light was coming through the window. Her entire body was stiff from being in the same position for all those long hours sleeping. Something had been making noise to wake her up. She looked around for the source of the pecking and almost screamed when she looked out the window and was face to face with an owl. She opened the window to let the owl in, and got up from the desk, stretching her rigid limbs. She untied the letter from the owl's leg and it flew back the way it had come off into the distant dawn.

She opened the letter and frowned at its contents. It was from her Muggle family, the Daltons. They were kind people and had loved her as their own. However, Mr. Dalton had recently contracted a disease called cancer, and Mrs. Dalton was writing to say that he was gravely ill and in a Muggle hospital facility. So far, since Christiana had gotten out of school, the Daltons had been funding her living expenses and she had yet to find a job. Chaney had not thus far had anything to offer her and had suggested she try the wizarding community of Hogsmeade or she could consider working at the Ministry of Magic in London. She had not done so yet taking into account that moving to London could risk her exposure to Lord Voldemort. However, now that he was dead, her chances of staying further in Chaney were looking rather grim. She sighed. The rest of the month's rent for her flat was paid, but the rest of the month consisted of barely a few days. She would have to be out by the end of the week, or she would owe another month's rent and she didn't have it.

She made a decision right then that going to London was her only alternative. She had to find work and she had to find it soon. She would go give her landlord her two-days-notice and go to London to find a job and accommodations. She didn't care where she ended up working, just so long as it was a job that put food in her mouth and gave her a bed to sleep in at night.

She looked at herself in the mirror. _Well_, she thought, _I can hardly go looking like this_. She didn't even bother trying to smooth her rumpled clothing. She had been wearing it the day before, so she began rummaging through her closet looking for something suitable to wear. She decided a shower would do her good also, because she was looking rather pale what with the news of losing her income source and her father all within a twelve-hour period.

When she was showered and felt a bit more refreshed, she slipped easily into some Muggle blue jeans and a soft green fitted sweater. She slid her feet into some green and gray tennis shoes and tied them up. She grabbed her wand and shoved it in her back pocket. She grabbed a small wallet with her proper wizard identifications and other assorted things along with a bit of money in it and put it in her other back pocket. She had just decided that she was almost ready to go outside and Disapparate to London when she heard a knock on her door. _It never fails_, she thought. _No sooner do I get ready to go somewhere that someone wants to visit. Well, I'm not going to talk for more than a minute or so_.

"Just a minute!" she called out when the impatient knock sounded again. She put the finishing touches on her mascara and opened the door while she was pulling her hair back into a no-nonsense low ponytail. She groaned inwardly when she saw his face at the door. It was the landlord's son, Andrew, and he had an enormous crush on her. "Yes?" she asked rather rudely, only wanting to get to London as quickly as possible if only to escape his presence.

Andrew Willoughby was anything but good looking in Christiana's opinion. Her father scared him thoroughly the one time Andrew had run into Severus in the hallway outside Christiana's room. They never did figure out why he was coming to see her, although all his reasons for coming to see her were rather lame. Snape had asked him two or three questions and he had run in fright. He was tall and gangly and his ears stuck out a bit from his head despite the fact that he had tried to grow his hair to cover them. He wore thick glasses that magnified his eyes equal with Professor Trelawney. His Muggle clothing was laughable to say the least. His pants were too short and his shirt too long. He was wearing purple bowling shoes today with a pair of khaki pants that looked three sizes too small. His shirt had green and orange stripes and hung well past his knees. Christiana was trying hard not to giggle.

"Um—uh—Father said to ask you—uhn—when you would be—um, uh—giving him next month's—um—rent—I mean—payment!" Andrew finished, seemingly out of breath. Christiana supposed it used up most of his brain capacity to even put that many words together at once. Most of the time, it took him ten minutes to tell her what he had come for.

"Is your father here today, Andrew?" Christiana asked; for she would much rather tell Mr. Chilton Willoughby why she was searching for new accommodations. Andrew shook his head no. Christiana sighed. She didn't want to give the boy the entire message. He would certainly mess it up. "Could you just tell him that I need to speak to him as soon as possible?"

"Father won't be back for a very long time," a woman's cool voice said from down the hall. This was the first time Christiana had ever seen Addison Willoughby, Mr. Willoughby's daughter and Andrew's sister. "Any matters concerning your rent or your residence will now be taken up with me. I told Andrew that I would be coming to see you, but he insisted on coming to see you in my stead. However, I see he is quite inept at obtaining the information I much need. I'm sorry; I haven't introduced myself. I'm Addison Willoughby."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Willoughby. My name is Christiana Dalton. I am very sorry to say that I won't be with you and your brother for very much longer. You see, I received news of my father's death last night, and this morning, my income source fell through. I must find employment and lodging in London since Chaney doesn't offer me very much in that department." Addison's eyes narrowed slightly. While waiting for her reply, Christiana took a moment to study her.

She was well-dressed as an upper-society Muggle lady might dress. She was wearing a cream-colored pant suit with a brown flowered cream scarf pinned around her slender neck. She was quite lovely, in great opposition to her brother's appearance. Her hair was dark and shiny in contrast to his mousy brown. She had it pulled up in a tight bun. Her dark eyes glittered in what small light was coming into the hallway from Christiana's flat. She was slender and fit; although she looked quite capable of jinxing your arm off if you got in her way.

"When, exactly, are you planning on making this move to London?" she asked in that cool, collected voice, although Christiana detected an underlying viciousness.

"I was just on my way to give your father my two-days-notice." Christiana began to feel uneasy as she saw something kin to hatred growing in Addison's eyes.

"Let me have just a moment to confer with my brother. You see, my father left both of us in charge, so he needs to help me make an executive decision." Christiana was baffled that she would consult the brother—the one she had just accused of being inept at obtaining important information—about something of much more monumental importance than finding out if she was ready to pay her rent. The two stood with their heads together whispering for quite a few minutes and Christiana was getting antsy to leave. Finally, Addison turned back to her, a cruel smile on her face.

"I am sorry to inform you that as the new caretaker of Chaney Inn, I must request a two-week notice. Since you have failed to give one, you may submit one today and leave in two weeks, thus paying next month's rent or you may leave now. Of course, I might consider letting you stay for just the two days if you would be willing to take my brother along with you for your little jaunt today. I'm sure he would greatly enjoy your company. In fact, he has told me how much he truly likes you." Addison's eyes glinted in triumph.

"That's blackmail!" Christiana cried. "You can't just change the policies like that without informing the residents prior to the change!"

Addison's face filled with hatred. "I hate to tell you that you're not in Muggle society. I can do whatever I please with this place seeing as I'm in charge and you'll comply or you'll get out, you impertinent little chit. So what's it going to be?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Addison Willoughby was still looking expectantly at Christiana. Christiana was so angry, and she knew that if she didn't stop herself this instant she would look like a puffy wet red balloon. This was because when she got angry her face turned red and she began to cry which in turn made her eyes all puffy. She had to make a choice and quickly. Addison was only trying to blackmail her into taking Andrew along because Andrew must have told her of his crush on her. She couldn't bear to have him along ogling her bottom every time she turned around all day long. She didn't have many belongings. The furniture had come with the flat. She supposed she could enlarge her bag and put everything in there.

"Come now, Miss Dalton, I don't have all day. I'm a very busy lady," Miss Willoughby said. _Busy, ha!_ Christiana thought. _If you were so busy, you would have something better to do than to stand here telling me to take along your brother or get out. _

"Don't worry, Miss Willoughby," Christiana replied vehemently. "I'll be out of your hair and your inn before sundown." She turned and marched back into her room, slamming the door in both the Willoughby siblings' faces.

She leaned back against the door, letting her body slide down until she was sitting with her knees under her chin. She let the tears flow. She honestly had no clue what she was going to do. When she had finished crying, she repaired her makeup and found the largest handbag she could easily carry through the streets and used an Enlarging charm on it. She began folding clothes and putting them far to the bottom. She could unpack this evening if she found lodging. If not, she would have to stay at the inn her father had always told her about that was for wizards: The Leaky Cauldron. She just hoped that the people in London would be helpful to her. After her clothing was put in, she wrapped all of her pictures up in newspaper from the Daily Prophet. Her father had had it sent to her for years, and she hardly ever read it. As she folded her pictures and a few other breakable items into it, though, she read a few of the latest headlines.

"Potter Vanquishes Dark Lord," one read, while another read "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: Is He Really Gone?" and another screamed, "DEATH EATERS ON THE LOOSE!" That one seemed to be old, though. Finally, she began packing a few books down into her trunk, which would also go in the bag. She found a scrap book full of all the newspaper clippings that had her half-brother in them. She opened it to see him hugging a bushy-haired girl several years before inside a tent that the article said was where the Triwizard champions were supposed to be meeting. She saw an even newer one from the next year that had his picture and a banner above it that said, "The Boy Who Lies." She had kept all these pictures of her brother in hopes of one day meeting him and finally being able to tell him who she really was. She just hoped he wouldn't hate or resent her, or worse not believe her.

Finally, having packed her few belongings, she stood and did a once-over on the room to make sure she had left nothing behind. She was glad she did, because she discovered her toothbrush and other assorted bathroom items she had forgotten. She stood in the doorway, and took one final look around her flat. She closed the door behind her and it closed with a definite click that told Christiana there was no turning back now.

She made her way out of the inn, grateful that she didn't spot either of the Willoughby's. She stood just a few feet beyond the inn and turned to Disapparate. She felt something grabbing her hair and tried to shake it off. When she Apparated into an alley just down from the Leaky Cauldron, she finally managed to shake off what turned out to be Andrew Willoughby. She pushed him off her and onto the ground. Feeling no shame whatsoever, she took off running before he had gotten his glasses off the ground.

Once she had slipped into the Leaky Cauldron, unnoticed by Andrew, she leaned against the bar trying to catch her breath. An old man, assumedly the barman, came closer to her.

"What'll it be, little lady?" he asked kindly, and then looked into her face. "Do I know you?" he asked, scrutinizing her facial features. She shook her head, still breathing hard. She had a stitch in her side that wasn't getting better. She slid onto the nearest bar stool and ordered a scotch on the rocks. After she had downed it and calmed her nerves, she decided to ask the barman how to find Diagon Alley.

"Why don't I just take you there myself?" he asked, smiling sweetly. "My name's Tom, by the way."

"I'm Christiana Dalton, but you can call me Christy. Do you have a room I could let for the night if I don't find something else more permanent?"

"I most certainly do. I have excellent accommodations for ladies. You just come back and see me if you need to." Tom led Christiana out behind the Leaky Cauldron to a brick wall. He pulled out a wand that looked as if it had seen many years of use. He tapped the bricks in a certain order and the wall began opening onto a bustling city street. She thanked Tom, and he graciously told her to come see him soon and waved goodbye as he walked back in the bar. She looked up and down the street. She didn't even know where to begin to find a job.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand grab her arm and pull her into a side alley out of sight. She struggled to get free from the grip that was surely bruising her arm. She started to scream, but the person's other hand clapped hard over her mouth.

"So," she heard whispered in her ear, and she slowly began to recognize the voice. "You thought you could escape me that easily," the voice hissed. She could feel his hot breath against her cool skin, and it sent shivers down her body. She felt the cold metal of his glasses pressed against her temple. He spun her around to face him, his hand quickly regaining access to her mouth before she could make any sort of noise. Andrew Willoughby had definitely been underestimated.

Andrew hated to be underestimated, just because he was sort of skinny and dressed a bit funny so that he could make appearances in Muggle society. He had wanted Christiana Dalton from the day she had moved into his father's inn a little over a year before. He wanted to kiss her, to taste her, and all he got from her was disdain or a sympathetic smile. She thought it was just a schoolboy crush, but it was so much more than that. It was true love, even though she didn't know it yet. He would make her love him. He crushed her against him and began kissing her.

Christiana was disgusted by the taste of him, but she knew that to let him kiss her a bit was the only way to be free of his grasp. She felt his tongue probe her lips open and she allowed it entry, trying not to gag. As soon as he had stuck it in just about as far as it would go, she bit, and she bit hard. She felt the hot, wet blood fill her mouth with its metallic taste. She didn't loosen her hold on his tongue until she was quite sure his tongue was about to completely sever. Andrew, unable to speak after what the wench had just done to him, drew his fist back and punched her hard in the side of the head. She saw stars, then blessed the oblivion that took her a mere moment later, because Andrew had begun pulling her pants down.

*

"Oy, you there!" a George Weasley called, passing by the alley between Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and the store next to it. He and his brother Percy had been coming back from lunch with their oldest brother, Charlie, when they heard a bit of a ruckus down the alleyway. When George looked, a mousy looking boy with huge glasses, similar to his Divination teacher's in school, had just punched a quite lovely girl in the side of the head and in the eye, and seemed intent on getting her pants off so he could do unspeakable things to her unconscious body. He began to run at them, but Charlie caught him in a vice grip.

Christiana came to, but things were fuzzy. She saw three figures standing at the end of the alleyway, all with red hair. The tallest had Andrew in a choke hold so tight that his face was turning purple. Her pants only had the button undone and they didn't seem to have been taken off. She tried to sit up, but felt immediately dizzy and fell back against the wall, hitting her head again. She moaned. One of the men peered down the alley at her.

"Charlie," she heard him say to the one holding Andrew, "George and I will take this one to the Ministry official in Gringotts. Why don't you see about the girl?" The one named Charlie nodded, and handed over Andrew to the one named George, and George and the one whose name she didn't know yet took off back in the direction they had been coming from. Charlie headed down the shadowy cobblestone path to Christiana. He knelt down and put his arm behind her head to help her sit up.

"Hi," he said, smiling, once he had her supporting herself. "I'm Charlie Weasley. Looks like you had a rough time there."

"Christiana Dalton," she offered by way of introduction. "You can call me Christy." She didn't know why she told him that. She had never let anyone but her father call her by that name. "That boy you just took away…did he do anything bad to me?"

"Other than give you some temporary purple eye shadow, no," Charlie replied with a grin. Christiana gingerly touched her eye. She didn't remember that blow. "He did it after he knocked you in the head," Charlie said, by way of explanation, seeing her look of confusion. "Do you know him?"

"Yes. His name is Andrew Willoughby. I was his father's former tenant." Christiana poured out the whole awful story, leaving out her father's and mother's names, for fear of discovery. She had always left out her father's name completely or changed it for their safety, so it was just habit. _That and I don't trust him yet,_ Christiana thought to herself as she finished up by saying that she was searching for a job and accommodations for long term. Charlie listened to her entire story, emotion for her and her situation in his piercing blue eyes.

"I'm so sorry about your father. You say he was killed at the hands of You-Know-Who? He killed a lot of other people, you know. You're not the only one who was affected. He killed one of my brothers." A tear fell down Charlie's face as he remembered his wonderful brother, Fred. He swiped at it, and a jovial grin spread back across his face.

"I think I know where you can find just what you're looking for. Come with me." He helped her to her feet, and she took a moment to straighten herself. She buttoned her jeans, and was relieved to find her wand still in one piece. She followed Charlie back out into the bright street and around the other side of a brightly colored joke shop. There was a small side door that opened onto a set of stairs. He led her up the stairs to a small flat that was above the shop.

"My brothers George and Percy stay in that bedroom back there and I sleep on the couch," he said pointing down the hallway. "But there's a guest bedroom right here on this side of the living area that you're welcome to stay in. It's the only room in the whole flat with double sliding doors." He showed her how they slid apart to admit one entrance. The room was furnished with a full size bed and a desk. It was small, but Christiana was glad to see anything that she could call a home.

"How would I pay for rent, though?" she asked, turning back to face Charlie. She studied him for a moment. His slightly curly red hair was a bit unkempt from his catching Andrew. His eyes, as she had noticed in the alley, were the color of the Caribbean sea after a storm. Her eyes traveled down his body. He wore a white muscle t-shirt and blue jeans. The shirt pulled tightly across his arms and chest, showing off the cut of his muscles.

"I think my brothers could most likely offer you a job in their joke shop downstairs." His voice cut through her obvious examination of him. "Like what you see?" he asked, winking at her making her blush. She nodded, not sure if he was asking about the flat or what she thought of him. Either way, she liked what she saw, although she would have been much more reluctant to have admitted the latter. He laughed seeing the look on her face. "Come on, we'll go talk to George and Percy and see if they can't give you a job. George has been harping on me to find someone to work for them for the past week."

"Why?" Christiana asked, unable to stop herself. She would think that among three brothers, a business would practically run itself.

"Well, my brother Fred, who died in the Final Battle, was George's twin. They ran the joke shop quite well by themselves. But when Fred died, George hired on Percy. Percy is still learning the ropes and they need someone who can basically be in the shop and sell stuff when neither one of them can."

"What about you?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Don't you work there, too?"

"Me? No, I work in Romania with dragons." _That explains the muscles_, she thought. "But lately, I've been spending more time with my family. I've realized that I spent far too much time away from them, and told Mum that I would be here most of the time. It helps to be able to have dinner with them almost every evening. I only have to go to Romania when there's a big job. Right now, I'm a liaison between England and Romania dealing with dragons. It's a nice change of pace, and I still get paid." He grinned as they stopped in front of the joke shop.

Christiana looked up at the brightly painted sign. It read Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. George and Percy were waving them in, and Charlie opened the door for Christiana. She smiled at him and walked in first.

"So, Charlie, you tell us what you've managed to find out about this pretty lady and we'll tell you what happened with the Taco Wizard." Percy and George dissolved in boyish laughter when George said "Taco Wizard." Christiana had to admit that the term was pretty funny in itself, but she had no idea what it meant. Charlie just raised one of his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well, it turns out," Charlie began, "that this 'pretty lady' needs a job and a place to stay. She was kicked out by that boy's sister right after finding her father was dead and she didn't have any money. I told her she could stay in that bedroom with the sliding doors if you guys would give her a job here."

"You finally found me someone! I knew you would come through!" George clapped his brother on the back.

"So, Georgie, tell me about this Taco Wizard," Charlie said. Christiana hadn't said a word, but was grateful she was going to have a job.

"Well, we took the boy up to Gringotts where Mr. Gibbs was patrolling. We explained what he had done and had been about to do. Mr. Gibbs sent Percy to the Ministry for more officials to take him back because he couldn't leave his station. I was standing there with a good hold on the boy's arm, and he whips out his wand and says he's going to kill us all and be the next You-Know-Who. Apparently, he didn't know any spells worth doing any good, and he started conjuring tacos. They were covering Mr. Gibbs and the Goblins, and they were only making everyone angry. The ones who weren't getting bombarded with tacos were laughing. It was NOT good magic at all!" George exclaimed. Christiana was holding her sides she was laughing so hard.

"When Percy here got back with more Ministry officials, the Goblins were threatening to turn him into a taco. We found out that somehow he had stolen his sister's wand, but he's a Squib. No one could seem to explain how he had managed to produce tacos, but when asked to perform a simple charm nothing happened."

"Which charm?" Charlie gasped through his laughter.

"He was supposed to perform Accio. Of course, the first time, we thought he was just really bad at magic, because he tried to summon a book and a Goblin did Wingardium Leviosa silently and made the book fly toward him and knock him square between the eyes. Anyway, he's being held at the Ministry until they decide what to do with him. I'm pretty sure he'll get a trial and be put away in Azkaban for a while."

"So," Percy said after he had managed to compose himself, "you want a job with us?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Christiana stared at Percy completely dumbfounded. She had not exactly expected to be offered a job right away. She had maybe expected an interview and perhaps them offering to get back with her once they had reached a decision, but it seemed that these red-headed fellows made decisions more quickly than that. Her mouth hung open at the prospect of having a job and a place to stay even before ten in the morning, this being the same morning she had lost her place to stay.

"You'd best close your mouth before something flies in and decides to make nest," George pointed out with a sly grin. Christiana did not realize that she had just been standing there open-mouthed until just then. She flushed scarlet. "If you don't want the job, we'll understand. You can still stay at our place as long as you pay your share on time. Of course, if you work here, we can just take it out of your pay."

"Yes!" Christiana almost screamed. "I mean, yes, I want the job," she said in a more composed voice.

"I just hope you can handle living with three guys," Charlie said with a small smile.

"I can certainly handle living with _you_," she blurted out then clapped her hand over her mouth. Her face turned redder than it had ever done in her life and she put her hands over her face to hide it. Percy and George just looked at each other smirking. Charlie turned a bit red himself.

"Well—uh—I have to get going," Charlie said. Then he muttered something about picking up more supplies from London for the shop and walked out the door. Christiana wondered about this considering he had just told her he didn't work with George and Percy, but she imagined that her comment had embarrassed him beyond belief.

"It's okay to speak your mind," George reassured her, seeing she was quite upset.

"I just can't believe that you would offer all of this to a complete stranger. I mean, you don't know anything about me, yet you are offering me a job and a place to live."

"Don't worry—erm—I don't believe I caught your name?" Percy asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, realizing her bad manners. "My name is Christiana Dalton. I would be honored to work for you. I just want to make an honest living." She smiled, even though she knew she must look a fright with a shiner on her eye.

"Good," George said. "I'm going to get Percy working on something and I'm going to show you how to run the shop when we're not around to help you."

*

It was about three hours later, and Christiana was efficiently running the register and knew where every single product was supposed to go, what it did, and how much it cost. There was a list of inventory with this information under the counter just in case someone asked about something and she couldn't remember. George and Percy had to go pick up some things for the store, so George gave her the rundown on how to lock up since they wouldn't be back by closing time. She was just getting ready to turn off all the lights when a flash of that familiar red hair blurred by the door. Suddenly, Charlie's face appeared in the doorway. Christiana was just getting all the lights out. She headed to the door to go out and lock it. Charlie backed up to allow her enough room.

While she was locking the door, he said, "Mum said to invite you for dinner." He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at a spot somewhere above her head. She held back a giggle.

"You told your mother about me?" Christiana asked, finishing up the lockdown. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"It wasn't me!" he exclaimed, looking like he had just been accused of highway robbery. She did giggle at his reaction. "I swear!" he continued. "It was George. He told Mum that I had found him a new employee and she asked about who you were and—"

"It is fine, Charlie," Christiana said with a broad smile. "I would be delighted to have dinner with your family."

"Really? I mean, you would?" Charlie stammered. Christiana turned to face him.

"Of course I would. You, Percy, and George are so amusing. I couldn't imagine what the rest of your family would be like. And besides, I've never had much family to spend time with." She'd let out that little secret without even realizing it. She'd noticed that when Charlie was around, she tended to say these things without thinking about them beforehand. She didn't feel the need to censor herself around him for some odd reason.

"Why is that?" he asked, but she was not ready to reveal to him why her seclusion from their world had been so important. Although she had gone to a wizarding school, she had not had any friends to spend time with. She had never gone back to the Daltons for Christmas. She had only gone for the summers. Usually, they were at work all day, and she would only have supper with them. She suddenly became conscious of what a lonely life she had led thus far. She could tell by looking in his eyes he really wanted to know why she was so lonely, but she just shook her head. Thankfully, he let it go.

"Let's go, Charlie," she said, wishing to be in a place with more people and more rooms that she could possibly escape his stare. It made her heart flutter wildly—it was unnerving, in fact—and she wasn't so sure she liked that feeling. He grasped her arm for side-along Apparition, since she had no clue where his home was. She hated that squeezing feeling. She usually just used the Floo network or a broom. She had already had to use Apparition once today, and it had not been particularly pleasant, especially considering the fact that she had brought her unwanted guest along with her.

When the darkness of Apparition receded into the twilight, Christiana noticed that she and Charlie were standing in a field just beyond a rickety-looking house. It was a bit spooky, because there weren't any other houses in sight, and no lights but the ones from the windows of the house. She felt Charlie grab her hand and pull her toward the house.

"Just keep holding on to me and you won't trip over anything," he muttered. Her feet were dragging a bit and she tried to pick up her pace, but she was so afraid something was going to come out of the shadows. As they neared the house, she saw a small gnome chewing on something in the garden. At the sight of them, he scampered away out of sight. The lopsided house was intriguing, and it was hard for Christiana to enter to doorway, because she was still trying to get a good look at the outside.

"Come on, Christy," Charlie coaxed. "You can see it again in the daylight some other time. It will still be here, I promise. It's reinforced by magic, so it's not going to fall down anytime soon, despite its appearance."

Fifteen minutes later, Christiana was convinced that she was seeing the most red-headed people at one time than ever before in her life. There was Charlie, of course, and George and Percy that she knew. Charlie introduced her to his mother, Molly and father Arthur. They had entered the kitchen just as Arthur Weasley came in through the fireplace. George and Percy were taking up space in the kitchen and Molly was fussing at them telling them to get out. Charlie led her on toward a living area where another boy with red hair who was probably two years younger than she sitting on the couch snogging a slender girl with rather bushy hair. Suddenly, another couple appeared behind them.

"Hullo, Charlie," a male voice said from behind them, making Christiana let out a little yelp and jump a bit.

"Bill!" Charlie exclaimed, giving this newcomer a hearty hug. "Where's Fleur?"

"She's still in the kitchen with Mum. You know she enlisted her help as soon as we arrived."

"Bill, this is Christiana. She's staying with me, Percy, and George, and working at the joke shop. Mum insisted I bring her home for dinner."

"Nice to meet you," Bill said, making a little bow at her. She quickly took in his appearance, trying not to show her shock. He had a wolfish quality about him, long hair pulled back in a ponytail, and an earring in one ear. He was congenial, though, and she supposed if he was part of this family, he was probably all right, as were all the other brothers she had met thus far—well, excepting that one kissing the girl on the couch. She supposed Fleur must be either Bill's wife or a sister or some distant relative. "My wife, Fleur, will be along shortly." Well that solved that mystery, Christiana thought to herself. Another red head, this time a girl, appeared behind Bill.

"Ugh, Ron, would you two get a room if you're going to do that? Honestly, we know you're married, but save it, please!" she said, putting on an expression of pure disgust. Ron was the boy on the couch, because he disentangled himself from the bushy-haired girl. Both of them had red, swollen lips from kissing for too long at once. Christiana fought the urge to giggle girlishly. She had never been kissed—had never even had so much as a love interest—due to her status as an outcast for so long. The bushy-haired girl turned a bright shade of scarlet and rushed up the stairs. Christiana hoped she would come back. She was eager to get acquainted with everyone here. They all seemed so interesting and she didn't feel like so much of an outcast here. She felt like she had friends for once in her life. Ron's ears were bright red, clashing with his mussed hair, which he was hopelessly to smooth down. The girl who had told him to get a room stepped over to Christiana.

"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley. I'm the only girl out of seven siblings, so I tend to act like them. Please accept my apology ahead of time for anything I may do or say that would embarrass you." She grinned mischievously and stuck out her hand. Christiana took it with a warm smile of her own and shook.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Christiana Dalton, but you can call me Christy. I work at the joke shop as of today and live with three of your brothers. I'll try to take care of them for you." At this statement, Ginny burst into laughter.

"They don't even let Mum take care of them, much less someone else. They're pretty independent, but if you like to have a good time, then they're good roommates. Oh! How embarrassing!" she exclaimed, and Christiana looked rather confused.

"You didn't do anything embarrassing," Christiana replied, looking around for someone doing something to cause her to comment.

"Oh, no, it's just that I introduced myself as Ginny Weasley, and I'm Ginny Potter now. You see, I just got married a few days ago, and I'm still not used to the idea of having his last name yet."

"Potter?" Christiana asked incredulously, not knowing if she wanted it to be Harry Potter one and the same or not. She wanted to pray that it wasn't, because she could then prolong meeting her half brother, but at the same time she wanted to pray that it was, because she could at least meet him and get to know him.

"That's right, I'm married to a celebrity," Ginny sighed. "I could have done much worse than Harry Potter though. Speak of the devil himself," she said looking over Christiana's shoulder at the doorway that led into the kitchen. Christiana suddenly noticed that Bill and Charlie weren't anywhere to be seen. She hadn't even noticed them leave. The boy named Ron that Ginny had yelled at had also disappeared and they were quite alone in the living room. Christiana felt isolated again, and very scared. She was about to meet her half brother for the first time. He didn't even know she existed. He didn't know they were related. She didn't think she was quite ready for him to know that yet either. She tried to swallow down the fear that was threatening to consume her. She was hearing a sound like a freight train screaming in her ears, and she really thought she was going to pass out. She felt herself sway on the spot, but a strong arm caught her.

"All right there, Christy?" Charlie's voice whispered low in her ear. His voice had a wonderful calming effect on her, and she regained her footing and consciousness.

"Yes, I think I'm just a bit hungry," she replied, smiling. All the same, his hand was still on her arm holding her up as Ginny pulled away from kissing her husband and towed him over to meet her newfound friend.

"Harry Potter, this is Christiana Dalton. She works at the joke shop and lives with Charlie, George, and Percy. Christiana, this is my husband and national wizarding celebrity, the Dark Lord Vanquisher, Harry Potter!" She gave a mock wave at him like she was showing off what was up for grabs on a game show.

"Really, Ginny, must you introduce me like that?" Harry's tone showed a fair bit of annoyance with his wife.

"Sorry…" she replied, and turned a bit red. She hurried off toward the kitchen, and Christiana was certain that those were tears in her eyes.

"You can call me Christy," Christiana heard herself say, although she really wanted to go after Ginny and calm her. Charlie still had a firm hold on her arm though, and she was pretty sure that she wasn't going anywhere without him for a while. But not more than a second later, he departed from her side, leaving her quite unaccompanied with Harry.

"So where are you from?" Harry asked her, saving her from fishing for a subject to talk about.

"France," Christiana replied. "I attended Beauxbatons."

"Oh, well then you must know Bill's wife Fleur?" he asked.

Suddenly, Christiana put two and two together. The Veela, Fleur Delacour, that had gone off to that Triwizard thing at Hogwarts was one and the same as Bill's wife! "So you were in that competition together!" she exclaimed out of nowhere.

"You mean the Triwizard Tournament? Yes, we were. Charlie is the one that brought in the dragons for one of the tasks." Christiana was feeling like she had just stepped into a whole family of celebrities.

"Madame Maxime wouldn't allow me to attend and put my name in the goblet. She said I was not yet ready." Christiana frowned. She knew the real reasons, but she did not want to disclose them as of yet. She flashed back to the end of August of that year. Her father had come to visit her before the start of term

"Can't I just go and not put my name in the goblet?" Christiana had whined.

"You would just be taking up space then," Snape had replied, and Maxime had nodded.

"No one is going who isn't entering the tournament," Maxime said gently. "Besides, Severus, wouldn't that put her in more danger of discovery on Potter's part? She would be safer here at Beauxbatons whilst we attend this tournament." Christiana had tears of frustration running down her cheeks.

"It's not fair! He gets to do whatever he wants and he doesn't know anything about me. If I showed up, how would he know? Who's going to tell him?! If you don't let me go, Daddy, I'll hate you forever!" Severus frowned.

"I'm sorry, Christy, but I just can't allow you to attend," he had replied, slight disappointment at her behavior showing in the crease between his eyebrows.

"Then I hate you!" she had screamed and stomped off.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, seeing tears filling her eyes in the present moment as he came back into the living room. "What did you do to her, Harry?" he joked.

"We were just talking about the Triwizard Tournament and she got all teary-eyed! I swear, I didn't do a thing." Harry crossed his arms across his chest.

"It's not him," Christiana agreed, exonerating him from blame. "I just had a memory of my father where I was telling him I hated him…"

"My father just died," Christiana whispered to them. Harry nodded his understanding.

"Both my parents are dead, too," Harry said, as if this would make her feel better about her situation. "So, I guess that makes us both sort of orphans?"

"Yes," Christiana replied, realizing he really did understand her pain even better than she understood it. After all, he had never had his parents. She had at least had one of hers for part of her life.

Molly stuck her head in. "Dinner's ready. And do call upstairs for Hermione and Ron. I don't want them to be late to the table again!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Christiana was seated with Harry on one side of her and Charlie on the other. On the other side of Harry was his new wife, Ginny. The two that had been making out on the couch entered the dining room looking ruffled and flushed, as if they had put their clothes on in a hurry. Christiana smiled to herself, thinking about the pleasures of being married. She wondered what it must be like to be a newlywed couple. She had never even had so much as a boyfriend, but she entertained the thoughts nonetheless.

When everyone was finally seated (Christiana could hardly remember all of their names!), the father cleared his throat for their attention. The table slowly quieted. "Let's say grace, shall we?" he said jovially. Everyone bowed their heads respectfully. "Harry would you?" the father asked. Harry nodded. After grace had been said, dishes began clattering all around. Charlie saw to it that every dish passed by Christiana. She couldn't believe the wealth of good food coming her way. Everything looked and tasted so savory. The wonderful smells from earlier didn't do the food justice. She ate contentedly in silence and listened to the hum of conversation around her. She listened as her own story was retold by George and Percy, and grinned as Charlie brushed off the recognition given him about saving her. The conversation turned to recent weddings, and a round of congratulations for the two newest couples was passed around the table. They just rolled their eyes, and Christiana assumed they had been hearing it for quite some time. Finally, several different conversations broke off at once, and Christiana was unable to keep up with one conversation for very long.

"Mum," she heard Ginny say to her mother, "Harry and I have an announcement…"

"…and it wasn't really as great as Percy made it sound…" she heard Charlie overtone beside her, speaking to his father across the table.

"…and we didn't get a chance to even get them off, Ron!" Hermione finished the trail of thoughts that didn't even string together. Suddenly, however, a dinging on the side of a cup with a fork brought semi-silence to the table. It was Molly's doing.

"Harry and Ginny have an announcement they would like to make." She smiled and nodded in their direction. They both stood.

"Oh, this must be big," she heard Ron whisper across to Charlie, who shushed him.

"Ginny and I," Harry began, but stopped to clear his throat. Ginny clasped his hand in hers, because he was obviously nervous. "That is to say…" he trailed off, and looked helplessly at his wife.

"Oh good grief," Ginny groaned. "We're having a baby is what he's trying to say!" she cried exasperatedly. A great deal of noise ensued this announcement, and Christiana suddenly felt she was horning in on something that was not meant for her. In all of the excitement, she got up from the table and slipped out into the garden. She leaned against a fencepost in the pale moonlight, and looked out across the field she and Charlie had Apparated into earlier. She sighed. She wished she could be a part of such a group as the Weasleys. They were such a fun group, but they were so tight-knit. She had never been anywhere near such a group, at least, not one that wanted her to belong.

"Hey, I wondered where you'd gone," she heard a familiar voice call from the door.

"Hey, Charlie," she said softly, when he stood close enough to hear her.

"What's the matter?" he asked a concerned look in his eyes. She wanted to tell him so badly about her relation to Harry, and thus his whole family. But she was also afraid of how he would react. What if he hated her afterwards? She would probably be left without a place to work or stay.

"Everything that's happened recently is just getting to me," she replied, lying smoothly, and hating herself for it. She would have to tell him about it all eventually. Or maybe she didn't. It just dawned on her! She didn't have to tell anyone anything. No one knew except her, and how would they find out if she didn't tell them? She smiled, suddenly deciding what to do. She wouldn't tell anyone, at least not anytime in the near future. She would keep it secret like she had all these years. After all, it's easier to do what is habit than to break your old routine. She would continue to write about it in her diary and keep it inside until she felt the time was right, or it was possible that she would never tell. "I think I'm just tired, Charlie," she said honestly. "Can we go soon?"

"We can go now, if you like," he replied. "I'll just tell Mum I'm going to take you back. I'll go down to the Leaky Cauldron and have a few drinks after I drop you off. Unless you'd like to join me for a nightcap?" he asked.

"Sure, I'd like that. I need to get my coat…" She walked toward the door, Charlie close behind her. He informed his mother that they needed to be going, and she raised her eyebrows at this. She decided she had better step back out the door, because she sensed a quick lecture coming that she wanted no part of. She didn't feel like having to defend herself, although Charlie would probably wind up defending himself as well as her. She turned quietly to go out the door, but bumped into an older woman holding a one-year-old with neon green hair. The baby was giggling, and the woman looked harried. Molly, upon seeing this woman, grabbed hold of Charlie's arm hard and whispered something in his ear. She gave him a stern look, and then turned to take the toddler from the woman. When Christiana turned to look at the baby again, his hair was flaming red.

"Andromeda! Teddy! We weren't expecting you! Come on in!" Molly warmly welcomed them, and walked back towards the dining room.

"Let's go before she changes her mind," Charlie stated and pulled Christiana out the door.

"What was that all about?" Christiana asked, fearing the worst.

"Mum's afraid that I'm going to—you know…" he trailed off, and Christiana was sure the darkness was hiding the color of red his face was turning. "She just doesn't want either of us to get hurt…emotionally, I mean," he added quickly. "I would never hurt you physically or emotionally, at least not on purpose," he rushed on, revealing a little of his emotional side to her without realizing it. He grasped her arm before she had time to respond, and they Disapparated, appearing outside the shop in Diagon Alley. They stood there for a very awkward moment, and Christiana decided to take the reigns.

"On to the Leaky Cauldron, then?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"Yes," he replied, seemingly relieved that she had changed the subject without any questions. She liked him, probably more than she should after just meeting him, but their personalities just clicked together. She felt as if she could talk to him openly, and she didn't have to hide her true self from him—except the whole Harry Potter thing.

*

It was two hours later, and both Charlie and Christiana were both leaning towards the drunker side of things. They were talking freely and openly about each other's lives, asking open-ended questions and having a quite good conversation that probably would not have happened without the influence of so much butterbeer and firewhiskey. Charlie took another shot of firewhiskey as Christiana, who had just taken the last sip of who knew how many butterbeers, asked him an unexpected question.

"So, Charlie, do you have any deep dark secrets? Like something you would never tell anyone even if your life depended on it?" She hiccupped half way through the word "depended." She giggled when she'd finished talking. He didn't seem to notice, though, because he hiccupped before he began talking.

"Oh, sure, loads of them. What about you?" He looked expectantly at her. She grinned.

"Of course I do, but I'll never tell!" she exclaimed loudly. Other patrons of the bar looked over at her, but turned away smiling when Charlie reached across the table and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You're too loud," he told her equally as loudly as she had just yelled to him.

"So are you," she retorted in a quieter tone, but she was grinning and laughing all the same. "So back to the secrets we're not telling…"

"Yes, but I suppose mine isn't all that bad," Charlie replied. "It's bad for my kind of business, though."

"What did you do? Steal a dragon from someone or something?" Christiana asked in a hushed voice.

"That's exactly what I did," Charlie replied in a whisper. "I was working for this man, and he had a whole batch of dragon eggs. We were going to have to raise them before trying to set them free or put them on a reserve. Well, I wanted to send home some extra money, so I stole one of the eggs and sold it to a stranger in a hood. He was more than happy to pay my asking price. I know now that it was Voldemort, though. He tricked me, because he needed the dragon egg to sell to Hagrid to get past Fluffy, the three-headed dog." Christiana looked immensely confused. Charlie launched into Harry's entire story that Christiana only had known bits and pieces of. When he had told her as much as he knew, she had drunk three more butterbeers and her eyes were very bloodshot. He ordered another shot of firewhiskey, both of them getting drunker by the minute. The bartender asked Christiana if she would like another drink, but she declined for the moment. "So what's your secret?" Charlie asked her when the bartender had returned to wiping down the bar. They were the only two left in the bar, but Tom seemed fine with allowing them to stay as long as they needed. It was well after three in the morning.

"I can't tell you," Christiana mumbled, her eyes half-closed with exhaustion and too much butterbeer. "That's why it's a…secret…" she yawned loudly.

"Come on, I told you mine," Charlie whined. He wasn't normally a whiner, but he had had a lot of shots of firewhiskey. Before she could reply her head fell down onto her folded arms on the table. She was fast asleep. He shook her awake enough to get her to walk back to the flat above the store. It took them fifteen minutes to get up the stairs. They were a bit clumsy, and knocked a lamp onto the floor upon entering the small apartment. Charlie pulled out his wand and repaired it. When he turned around, Christiana had collapsed on the couch where he normally slept. He covered her, not wanting to have to move her again. He went into her bedroom and fell into bed, but found himself lying awake in the darkness. He turned on a lamp by the bedside and saw a small leather-bound book lying on the bedside table. He picked it up. It said Diary on the front, and he knew he shouldn't read it, but it was too tempting. He opened it, and flipped through to see that there was only one entry. It must be new, he thought. He went back to the first entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_So I got a new job today. I'm writing this really fast, because I'm really supposed to be going down to the shop and getting started. I'm working in a joke shop with some nice brothers named Weasley. I just pray I don't run into Harry Potter. Well, I don't really know if I want to meet him or not. He doesn't know that he's my half-brother yet, and I really don't want to tell him. I suppose I eventually need to tell him, though, if and when I do find him. Of course, the possibility of me meeting him right off is probably pretty slim. _

_I met a guy today. Well, it's one of the Weasley brothers, but he doesn't work in the shop. His name is Charlie, and boy is he a looker! I would NEVER tell him this in person, though. At least not yet. I feel like I can talk to him about anything, yet I must keep my secret at bay. It is my deepest and darkest. I've never had any friends to tell it to anyway, but these Weasleys seem nice. Perhaps I will share it with them in the future. Ugh I've got to go! I'm late for my new job!_

_-C_

Charlie reread the entry three more times, his jaw dropping further each time he read the bit about Harry being her half-brother. He was sobering up quickly after this shocking news. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over him each time he read it. But how was he her half-brother? Which parent did they have in common? He was in no doubt that this was the secret she had been so unwilling to relate to him. He wanted to know more, but he didn't want her to know he had betrayed her trust. She didn't want anyone to know yet, so he decided he would keep his mouth shut for as long as it took her to share with him and anyone else. For all Harry knew at this point, he had no other relatives aside from the Dursleys. He decided to have a look through the drawer in the table, though, just to see if there was anything else.

As he reached to pull the drawer open, his eyes fell on a box sitting by the bed with several framed photographs in the top. She must have begun unpacking at some point, although he couldn't figure out when. He supposed when she had been shown the room and decided she would take it. It must have been while he was waiting in the living room earlier today. He picked up the photographs and studied each one closely.

After studying all the photographs but one, he had deduced that Severus Snape was this girl's father. He just couldn't believe that that man had ever even so much as been in love, much less sired and fathered a child. But everything here implied that she loved her father very much. He knew Christiana had attended Beauxbatons, and he could see why with the little information he knew. Being Harry's unknown half-sister would have been hard, even if they had never been at school together. He didn't see how she had borne this secret for so long. After picking up the last photograph, a piece of worn and yellowed paper fell into his hand. He opened it up to read it, and saw that it was a letter from Snape bearing news of Christiana's mother's death. Now, in the top of the box, were all of the newspaper clippings about Harry, beginning with the one about his parents' death and his survival. The letter had stated something to the effect of the fact that Lily knew nothing of Christiana's existence and how regretful that was. Snape had said he would visit soon.

Charlie realized that perhaps this was the real reason Christiana had returned to London. Her father's death…that was Snape's death. She had just found out, even though it had taken place well over a year ago. Voldemort's defeat must have been celebrated there, though. Perhaps she just didn't hear from Snape very often. He couldn't believe what he had just found out. She was connected to them in so many more ways than just being a witch. He made sure to put everything back just as he had found it. Just as he was falling asleep, though, he resolved once again not to say a word about any of it.

*

The next morning, Christiana woke with a splitting headache, and remembered she had to be at work. She had no clue why she was on the couch, and didn't have time to work it out. The apartment door opened just as she finished getting ready. It was George.

"I know I'm late," she said apologetically. "And on my second day of work! I'm already slacking, and I'm sure you want to fire me!"

"No," George replied nonchalantly. "It's fine. Does your head hurt?" he asked, grinning.

"Yes, terribly," she replied.

"You were drinking with Charlie last night, weren't you?"

"I was," she agreed.

"Go back to sleep for a while. Come on down when your head feels better and you can close the shop. Percy's manning the front right now. It's fine. I'm not going to fire you. You've never had drinks with my brother before." He grinned again, and walked back to his room. She lay back down on the couch and covered up with the blanket. When George walked back through, she looked up at him.

"Where's Charlie?" she asked, sleep almost having overtaken her again.

"Dunno…he's probably sleeping in your bed since you're in his." George shrugged, and closed the door behind him, seemingly unconcerned with her lateness or that she had gotten drunk with his brother the evening before. Just before blessed oblivion took her away again, she thought that she should go make him get out of her bed, but it just seemed like too much effort right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Christiana cracked one eye open against the bright sunlight now streaming into the living room window. Her head still hurt a little, and she wanted to roll back over and go back to sleep. She knew she needed to get to work. She looked at the table and saw two small phials of a light yellow liquid. There was a note under them. She moved them carefully as she sat up. She pulled the note gently from the table and read it.

_Christiana,_

_Take one of these to get rid of your headache and come down whenever you're ready. _

_-George_

_P.S. The other one is for Charlie._

She picked up one of the little containers and opened it. She drank the whole thing, and her headache immediately subsided. She felt one-hundred percent better. She would thank George immensely when she got downstairs. She also swore to herself to NEVER get that drunk again. She left the note and the other phial of medicine on the table, hopeful that Charlie would discover it on his own. If he was still sleeping, she didn't want to wake him. She would have to go in there and get clean clothes.

She slid the door to the room open and sidled in as silently as she could. She stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes landed on him. He lay sprawled spread-eagle on the bed with one foot hanging off the side. The sheet covered from his waist down with only that one foot sticking out, but she wasn't interested in his feet. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she knew she was staring at his muscular chest and arms. She felt her heart pounding, heard it in her ears. She was certain that it was beating so loudly, it would undoubtedly awake him.

She finally found it within herself to tear herself away, and she quietly dug through a box and found some clothes suitable to wear to work. She took one last long look at him before letting herself out and heading down the hallway to the shower. When she walked into the bathroom, she was thinking about how ashamed she was to be feeling that way towards him. She had to admit it—she was inevitably attracted to him in a way she had never been attracted to anyone else in her whole life. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten her underwear. She sighed and turned on the water to let it be warming up. She walked back through the living room and into her room. She glanced at the bed only to discover that Charlie had covered himself up so completely, she couldn't even see his flaming red hair. His wand still lay on the bedside table, so she was sure he was still sleeping. She grabbed a pair of underwear and walked back toward the bathroom. She couldn't believe he had not awakened yet.

Charlie woke up to see the door to her bedroom sliding closed. She must have gotten her clothes to go to work, he thought. He sighed, and sat up. He heard a door close, and assumed that she had gone to work. He got up and headed to the kitchen for some coffee, grabbing the phial and the note off the table before he went. He knew that George always left him notes on the table when he wanted to communicate with him while at work. He read the note, addressed to Christiana, and drank down the yellow liquid. His head cleared and he started the coffee pot. He stepped back into the living room and heard the water running in the bathroom. He figured the faulty shower had cut on again. The magic was wearing off and the water would come on at random times. If someone was home they would turn it off. Fortunately, the apartment had not yet been flooded.

He went into the bathroom to turn it off and realized it was hot. He decided to go ahead and get in. He grabbed a towel out of the hallway closet and hopped into the shower. He pulled the shower curtain closed. He did not approve of this shower curtain, because it was deep red with pink flowers. It came with the apartment, but Charlie didn't like it because it didn't let any light into the shower. He was glad he knew where all of his body parts were. He began soaping up when he heard the bathroom door open.

Christiana opened the bathroom door. She had thought she left it open, but apparently not. She closed it again, and began disrobing. She grabbed her towel and walked toward the shower.

Charlie was a bit frightened. He was unsure of who was in the bathroom with him, but he didn't have time to investigate, because the curtain was pulled aside, and there stood Christiana in all her glory. She screamed and pulled the towel around herself as quickly as she could, but not before he got a full view of her front side. He put his hand over his groin, his mouth still hanging open. She was still screaming hysterically.

"OH MY GOD! CHARLIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS SHOWER?!?!?!" Her face was redder than Ron's when he got angry and that was saying something.

"LAST TIME I CHECKED," he yelled back, "I LIVE HERE, TOO! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, WE HAVE A SCREWED UP SHOWER THAT COMES ON AT RANDOM TIMES!"

"WHY ARE WE STILL YELLING?" she screeched back.

"I don't know," he replied, still in a loud voice.

"So why are you in the shower?" she asked, still loudly, but beginning to calm down.

"I was in the kitchen, and I thought you had left. I heard the shower come on, and I thought it was because it's screwed up. It comes on at really random times, and if someone's here we just go cut it off. The magic's wearing off. Anyway, it was already hot, so I decided to go ahead and get in. I'm really sorry," he replied. He was sorry about the mix-up but not at all sorry of the glorious view he had gotten of her. He smirked at the thought.

"You are NOT sorry!" she shrieked. "You're smiling! After that! I can't believe you have the audacity to smile at me!" He tried not to keep smiling, but it was impossible.

"Can I finish my shower now?" he asked nonchalantly, trying to keep his hand over his groin, which was currently betraying him. He was fidgeting and he knew it. Her eyes inadvertently dropped to his hand as he tried to sidle back behind the shower curtain.

"Oh my God, Charlie!" She turned her back, which the towel did not quite cover, not making Charlie's problem any easier, and stalked out of the bathroom, slamming the door on her way out.

Charlie sighed and pulled the shower curtain back closed. He finished his shower trying to keep his mind off of her beautiful slender body. She had the longest legs on a girl that he had ever seen, and Lord knew he had seen plenty of girls. It was that one particular girl that he wished would get out of his head. He hated her more than he hated Voldemort. He shook his head to clear those awful thoughts away, but at least that thought had taken his mind off Christiana. He sighed.

Christiana was thoroughly mortified. She sat on her bed, staring out the window unseeingly, still wrapped in her towel. She wasn't really mad at him—he couldn't help it that he didn't know that she was about to get in the shower. She just hoped that bit he gave her about having a faulty shower and the magic wearing off was true, and he hadn't just done it to get a good look at her naked. But he had seemed as embarrassed as she was! But then he had the audacity to stand there and smile like a fool at her embarrassment. And on top of everything, when she had looked down he was…She turned red just thinking about that. She needed to find a girl to talk to. Perhaps that bushy-haired girl from last night would talk to her…what was her name? It started with an H…Christiana couldn't remember. She did suppose she could talk to Ginny though. She was married after all, and would know about those sorts of things. She waited until she heard Charlie come out of the bathroom and then the door to the apartment open and close. She peeked out to ensure that he was really gone, and headed to the shower, this time locking the door.

*

Christiana walked through the front door of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Percy, who was manning the counter, looked immensely grateful that she was there. He checked out the three remaining customers and then turned to give Christiana her orders for the day. After explaining to her that he and George, who was in the back, had to make a run for some goods and that she would be alone for the rest of the day, he told her what she would have to do since she was late.

"You see," Percy explained, "we don't fire our employees for having too many drinks and being late. This is how we test whether or not you really want this job."

"Okay," Christiana replied apprehensively, still not knowing what they would ask her to do.

"Well, George and I have come out with a new joke product to use, and we're giving a release party that lasts all night. We need you to work."

"Oh," Christiana said, nodding and sighing with relief. "Yes, I can do that."

"Wait, I'm not done yet," Percy replied, smiling slyly.

"Did you ask her yet?" George asked coming in from the back.

"I just told her she had to work all night. I haven't gotten to the other part," Percy replied, a little uncomfortably. Christiana got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. He turned back to her. "We want you to demonstrate the product for the crowd."

"Have you tested this said product?" she asked with that bad feeling building more and more by the second.

"Of course!" George replied. "We would never subject anyone to anything we haven't put ourselves through first. That's what we were doing this morning before we opened the shop. It was quite funny. I was thoroughly educated on the life of Percy!" George snickered, and Percy blushed.

"What does this product do?" Christiana decided to go ahead and find out what she was getting herself into. After all, she could back out and try to find another job. It wouldn't be easy, but she supposed she could do it.

"It's a phial of purple liquid that looks a bit like love potion," Percy said.

"Yes, only it's not…it's a sort of truth liquid. Not as strong as Veritaserum, though. It makes you say one true thing that no one else knows but you and maybe the person it happened with." George grinned again in Percy's direction. Percy turned scarlet again, and walked toward the back of the shop. Apparently what he had told George while using this product was embarrassing.

"Do you have to say whatever it is?" she asked.

"Yes. You say it, not even realizing you've said it until it's over and everyone is looking at you laughing or whatever. It's not so bad. For example, I told Percy a tidbit about my love life that he would never have needed to know, but it was quite funny later." George walked toward the back of the shop. "By the way, the party is tonight."

Christiana stepped behind the counter, her breathing hitching in her throat with every breath. What if the thing she said was about her being related to Harry? She couldn't have that getting around. She just would NOT have him find out unless it was straight from her and only her. A customer came into the store leaving her no further time to think about her fate that was inevitably coming that evening. After the customer left, George and Percy brought the big sign about the release party up from the bag and began to clean out the display window to put it up along with samples of the new product that would be released and demonstrated promptly at midnight.

"I take back that you'll be working all night," Percy grunted at her as he helped George take down the old sign. "George, why in the world did you do such a strong Sticking Charm? I can't get it to come down! Anyway, Christiana, you can go home after the demonstration. I know you're going to say something really embarrassing, because I did when I took it. So I convinced George to let you go home afterwards and you don't have to work tomorrow." Christiana groaned.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she muttered. Charlie walked into the shop, and she promptly turned scarlet and ran to the back room. She really couldn't face him right now. Thankfully, George and Percy were too busy still trying to unstuck the sign that they didn't notice her absence. Once she was in the back room, she pretended to be refilling some of the products, which worked out well, because they needed to be refilled before the party anyway. She busied herself with that and listened to the brothers' talk.

"Hey, guys, what are you doing?" she heard Charlie say.

"Well," Percy replied, "George put the world's strongest Sticking Charm on this sign and we're trying to get it down."

"It's not the world's strongest one! I used one, but it didn't work, so I used some of that magic putty," George retorted.

"No wonder it won't come down," Charlie chuckled. Christiana dared to glance at him when he wasn't looking and almost couldn't look away. He was wearing a nicely-fitting pair of jeans and a t-shirt that said on the front, "I know Harry Potter better than you do." It was yet another product of the Weasley's shop. It had the three W's at the bottom to indicate this. She could see his muscles in his arms rippling. But she was mad at him! She looked away, her anger at him ebbing away against her will. She wanted to be mad at him, though. She decided she _was_ mad at him, and it didn't matter how good he looked in those jeans.

Finally, they had the sign down, and Charlie thankfully left the shop, promising to be back at midnight to see the demonstration of their new potion. Christiana finished restocking the shelves and returned to her post at the counter. George and Percy said they would be back shortly, and left to get refreshments for the release party. Christiana sighed. She was glad to be alone again. She was not, however, looking forward to her demise.

The hours ticked slowly by. She helped George and Percy set up, and occasionally manned the register when a customer came in. Each one promised to be back for the party. Finally, midnight arrived, and George gave an introduction to the product. Christiana stood close by feeling sick. Charlie stood toward the back with the rest of the Weasley family. The woman and baby that had come in the door the night before and saved Charlie from a lecture were there, too. The baby was sleeping, his hair a neon purple.

"…so this potion is great at parties with friends. It's great to pass around the circle and everyone says something true about themselves or their life that no one else knows! Now, for our demonstration—our new employee, Christiana, will be showing you how it works. Step on up here." She did so, looking rather green. She heard some people begin whispering excitedly. She saw Charlie lean over and whisper something to his mother. She nodded in agreement. It really didn't help things that he was here. She would rather not be in the same room as him. She gathered all her courage and tipped the phial up to her lips before she had the courage to back out. She was praying the whole time that whatever she said had absolutely nothing to do with Harry. The phial fell out of her hand and the words escaped her lips before she had time to even think about them, much less control them.

"I saw Charlie Weasley naked in the shower this morning, and he has the most perfect butt!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

A smatter of chuckling and applause rippled over the crowd, but Ginny and her mother looked unhappy to say the least. Molly raised an eyebrow at George whose grin was about as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. It faded the moment he saw his mother's face. Ginny rubbed her forehead to ease away the oncoming headache. She touched her mother's arm to gain her attention.

"I'll go to her. Please stall Charlie as long as you can. You know he'll be coming as soon as he can get away and she doesn't need that right now." Molly nodded in agreement. She wondered briefly when her daughter had become so wise. Harry was jovially clapping Charlie on the back in a congratulatory way and Ginny gave him a look that would dry up the wettest day on her way out the door. Speaking of wet, it had begun raining a bit outdoors and Ginny pulled the hood on her sweater up over her head as she rounded the shop into the alleyway that led to the stairs to the flat overhead. She darted up them and in the flat as quickly as possible.

Christiana was absolutely appalled at her inability to control what had escaped her lips. That was to be absolutely secret along with the fact that she was Harry Potter's half-sister. At least she had not blurted that fact, which had been her fear all along once realizing what the product did. If this was the Weasley's idea of inducting her to working for them, she decided she would rather jump off a cliff somewhere quiet. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she sank onto her bed. She picked up a picture of her father standing next to her and let her grief overtake her once again. She was really beginning to believe that she was not cut out for this life. She began to sob audibly and did not hear the door to the flat open and close. She did, however, see her door pushed open and was relieved to find it was only Ginny standing there. Ginny shut the door.

"Oh, good, it's only you," Christiana sighed through her tears, swiping at them with the back of her free hand, still holding in her other hand the picture of her with her father. Ginny sank onto the bed beside her. Without any prompting on Ginny's part, Christiana relayed the morning's events not sparing any details as to why she saw Charlie in the shower. She felt she owed some kind of explanation to his sister. His brothers might find it comical, but she could tell that Ginny had not come up to laugh at her. Ginny put a comforting arm around her shoulders about halfway through the story and listened without interrupting. In all honesty, she didn't really know what to say to make Christiana feel any better. After Christiana finished the story, silence ensued. The rain pounded harder than ever on the roof overhead, and there was still quite a commotion downstairs as people eagerly made their purchases and left the shop.

"I think," Ginny said after a few moments of quiet had passed, "that you have a crush on Charlie. Please don't get mad. It's only an outsider's observation. I'm sure that you have deeper and darker secrets than that. That potion is designed to make you tell something that no one else knows, and honestly I believe that you're not that shallow." Christiana raised her eyebrows. She had never thought of it in that way. She was thinking it was the end of the world over a stupid, shallow confession brought on by a joke product. She smiled a watery smile at Ginny.

"You're right," she confessed to Ginny, "but I don't think I will ever be able to look at your mother in the eye again."

"Oh, you will. She was quite unhappy with George's new product. I'm sure she's down there harping on him right this instant. Now, what's this picture you've been clinging too since the moment I arrived?" Before Christiana realized what had happened, Ginny had the picture in her hands and was peering at it. Her mouth formed a speechless O. She looked at Christiana then back at the picture. Christiana began to wring her hands as awkward seconds of stillness that seemed to stretch into eternity passed. It seemed as if an hour had gone by before Ginny spoke again, almost in a whisper. "So, Snape was—I mean is—your father?" Her voice ended the question in a disbelieving squeak.

"Yes," Christiana whispered in return. She offered no more information, so Ginny pressed onward.

"Then, who is your mother?" Ginny looked up from the picture finally.

"It doesn't matter. She died a long time ago." Christiana turned away.

"It does so matter," Ginny replied insistently. "I want to know who Snape could have loved so passionately—oh no!" Her exclamation spoke volumes about what she already knew. "Snape must have gotten Lily pregnant before Harry was born—memories must have had to have been cleaned—I'll bet no one but Snape and Dumbledore knew—oh but do you realize what this means?! We're sisters!" She gasped suddenly. "Does Harry know? Of course he doesn't. He would have told his own wife. Wouldn't he?" Ginny was now up and pacing. She stopped dead center in front of Christiana. Christiana's eyes pleaded with Ginny.

"Please, don't tell him!" Christiana stood to face Ginny. "No one else knows. At least, I'm pretty sure they don't. I don't want him to hear it from anyone but me. But I'm not ready to tell him yet."

"You ask me—his wife, mind you—to keep a secret this big from him?! Impossible!" Ginny looked angry and sad and happy all at the same time. A knock on the door hushed the both of them. Ginny opened it and Charlie tried to come in. Ginny, however, pushed him out and shut the door behind them leaving Christiana to wonder if she was going to relay her secret to him. She jumped up off her bed, only to sink back down onto it. Ginny was probably berating him about what happened that morning.

Out in the hallway, Ginny gave Charlie a searing look before speaking. "How long? How long have you known who she is?" Ginny hissed at him, trying to keep her voice at a whisper.

"I don't know what you mean," Charlie answered, trying to stick to his promise to himself the other night that he wouldn't tell anyone. Only, it seemed Ginny knew more than he did and had had it directly from Christiana.

"Of course you do!" Ginny replied vehemently. "You know that she's Harry's half-sister. I only want to know how long you've known. If you hadn't known, I believe you would have made a pass at her long before now."

"Oh, so you believe me dishonorable?" Charlie raised his eyebrows. "You honestly think that just because I haven't asked her out that I know something I shouldn't? Well fine; yes, I do know. But she didn't tell me and she doesn't know that I know."

"She didn't tell you? I would have thought that was why there was so much tension between the two of you besides the obvious crush you have on each other. I'm not finished!" She raised a hand to stop Charlie's interruption to protest. "How did you find out then?"

"The other night when we went for drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, we were talking about secrets. Even when she was drunk she wouldn't tell me. She passed out on the couch and I slept in her room. Only, I couldn't sleep once I got in there so I looked in her diary." He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his brow furrowed.

Unable to remain at a whisper, Ginny bellowed, "YOU DID WHAT?!?!?!"

"Hush! I don't want her—" Charlie began, but Christiana pushed her door open.

"What is going on out here?" she asked. Charlie noticed her face was tear-streaked but she was no longer crying. She looked disheveled and he felt bad for it.

"He read your diary! And he knows that you're Harry's half-sister!" Ginny cried indignantly. She was aghast that her own brother would have the audacity to do such a thing. Christiana just raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, really? And tell me, Charlie, when exactly did you find time to snoop through my things?" She felt so violated at this point that someone reading her diary didn't even begin to compare to what happened earlier in the shop.

"It was when you passed out on the couch after all those drinks the other night. And I didn't mean to!"

"You didn't mean to? Really? How do you not mean to read something but read it anyway? How long did you have to read before you realized it was my diary?" Christiana was outraged at his response. Ginny still looked angry, but she sensed that she was not supposed to be part of this argument, even if she had started it.

"I'm just going to leave…" She stepped over to the door.

"Yeah, Ginny, go on and leave now that you've started all this," Charlie retorted sarcastically. Ginny shook her head and closed the door behind her. She met George on her way down the stairs.

"I wouldn't go up there right now if I were you," she said and pulled him back to the shop. Back upstairs, things were only getting started.

"You didn't answer my question. How long did it take you to realize it was my diary you were reading and not some novel? Was it the fact that it had dates at the top? Or was it that there were only a few entries and when you came to the end? Oh! The book wasn't complete?!" Christiana was bordering on hysteria.

"I'm just glad I didn't have to read about how perfect you thought my butt was!" Charlie yelled back, not really knowing what else to say. He should never have read it, but he wasn't going to admit to her that he was wrong.

"That was before I saw it! And that's beside the point. If your stupid brothers hadn't insisted on testing that stupid potion on me, no one would have been the wiser and none of this would be happening!"

"Don't call my brothers stupid." Charlie's voice held an edge bordering on dangerous. "So you're saying that this is my brothers' faults?"

"No, this is your fault!" Christiana cried.

"How is it my fault?" Charlie asked desperately.

"FOR READING MY DIARY, DAMMIT!" Christiana walked into her room and slammed the door. She was about to lock it but she wasn't quick enough. Charlie pushed it open with such force that it knocked her backward onto the bed.

"You know, you started all this," he began. "You asked me for a secret in the bar that night and then refused to tell me one. You got me all curious. I just wanted an inkling of who you were and what you were like beyond work and drinking since those were the only places I really got a look at you. That's no way to get to know someone—work and drinking, that is. I wanted to get to know you as a person, and you just wouldn't allow it. You wanted to be mysterious. So I found out the only other way I knew how. But have I breathed a word about it to anyone? No. I swore I wouldn't tell your secret. I don't run around telling things to other people that they shouldn't know." He took a breath.

"Are you finished?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Because if you are, I'd prefer it if you would leave."

Without a word, Charlie stormed out of the room only to storm back in seconds later. Christiana thought to herself that the next time he left she was locking the door.

"Who do you think you are? You think you can tell me to leave my own house? I'm the reason you even live here. You know, if you want me to, I'll be more than happy to tell George to kick you out. I wouldn't mind having that bed back. I never slept on the couch before you came along. I only told you that to be nice, because I wanted you to live here, because dammit, Christiana, I liked you from the moment I saw you. You're not the only one who has been hurt in life, so quit acting like no one else has ever been hurt. Hell, take Harry. He's been hurt so badly—he never had parents. At least you had your father. He almost died saving the world because of a stupid prophecy. Tell me what you've done to save the world lately." Christiana was speechless. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was comparing her to her own brother.

"How would you like it if I compared you to your brothers?" she asked. "Because that is what you're doing to me—comparing me to my brother. That's one reason I didn't want anyone to know. Now, everyone who knows is going to look at me and say what a shame it is that he turned out to be such a hero and I turned out to be nothing more than a clerk at a joke shop. You are an arrogant, selfish pig." She sniffed.

"Arrogant, maybe," Charlie conceded, "but selfish? I got you a job and a place to live and gave up my bed for you. I've kept your secret for reasons beyond my own comprehension. Please tell me how I'm selfish. If anyone is selfish, it's you. You've denied Harry the only living family of wizarding kind that he has. I'm sure he would accept you, even if he didn't previously know you existed. You've got all the proof you need in that box. He's not so bad a person as you may think."

"Who said I thought he was a bad person? He's a fine person. He did save the world from Voldemort, after all. But that doesn't mean I want the whole world that has just been saved knowing that I'm his sister who has done nothing worthy of a hero. I'll tell him eventually. I'm not ready."

"You're not ready? It's all about you, isn't it? Don't you think he's ready to know that he has a sister? I think he would absolutely love it if he knew. You can be angry with me all you want over reading your diary, but all I can say is that I'm sorry. I regret doing so. I would never hurt you intentionally. And I can also tell you that your secret will go with me to the grave if that's how long it takes you to be ready to tell him. However, I do feel that it is unfair to him. He is my friend as you are and I feel that it is only right that I tell you this."

Christiana rose from the bed. "You still think I want to be your friend after this?" Her eyebrows were raised, and he detected a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Well, perhaps not," he replied and turned to leave.

"I wasn't finished." He turned back. "You know my deepest secret. You admitted to liking me, which is more than I could have hoped for considering this morning's actions and the fact that I was rather disgusted with you. Despite that, when you were helping George and Percy get that sign down earlier, I couldn't be mad, and I couldn't take my eyes off you. I know you've caught me staring more than once." She blushed crimson and turned away from him.

"Are you always this forward?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know. I suppose when I have something important to say, I am. I know I'm blunt and to the point when need be." Christiana now shoved her hands into her pockets and stared out the window. She turned back to look at him only to find him looking at her. She blushed again and they stood their gazing at each other in awkward silence, neither sure what to make of the other or the situation they found themselves in. They both knew the other's feelings, and that made it quite uncomfortable for what seemed like an infinite amount of time. Finally, Charlie walked toward her. When he stood within a few inches of her, he stopped.

"Do you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you?" he whispered. He didn't need a response. He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her like he'd wanted to since he had taken her to eat with his family that first night. A few moments later, he reached over and closed the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Christiana was desperately lost in his kiss. All the anger at him ebbed away as he pulled her closer than she had thought possible. He tangled a hand in her hair, the other hand gliding down her back. Finally, she remembered that she had been angry with Charlie. She pushed herself back from him to look at his face. She lightly slapped his chest with her open palm, the other hand still in his hair. "I'm still mad at you, though." She arched her eyebrow. He just grinned.

"No, you're not," he replied, and pulled her back into the embrace easily. But a moment later, she pulled away again. "What is it now?" he asked, sounding a bit agitated that she kept interrupting the wonderfulness that was kissing her.

"You know my big secret. And honestly, I don't think that bit about the dragon egg you told me in the bar that night was your true big secret. I want to know what it is." She firmly crossed her arms, barring his hopes of getting back into that kiss. He sighed.

"Do we have to get into this now?" Charlie was looking uncomfortable, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as she'd felt when she'd found out he'd read her diary.

"There is no better time than the present. Losing people will make you come to realize that. Come on, Charlie. You can kiss me to your heart's content when you're through with the story." She grinned up at him as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Such shameless bribery!" he exclaimed, pretending to be outraged. "All right, I'll tell you, but please promise me one thing before I get into the story."

"Anything," Christiana agreed, nodding. "I do love a good story."

"This one doesn't have such a happy ending," Charlie replied frowning. "But no matter; I want you to promise me that you won't go feeling sorry for me or looking at me like I'm a pitiful lost puppy or anything."

"Oh, I would never look at you like that, although, you would make a darling puppy with those eyes." She giggled at the thought as Charlie sank down on the bed beside her.

"Well it was about four years ago, around the time I was required to help out with the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts…"

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

Ivana Tudor's long brown hair shimmered in the sunlight as Charlie Weasley approached her for the first time. Ivana was the cousin of the newest intern who was working for Charlie and learning how to handle dragons. He and his cousin were to go with him and some other guys as a team to take four dragons to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Ivana was going at her cousin's insistence and pleading with Charlie, because according to her cousin, she, too, wanted to pursue a career with dragons and this was the best exposure she was going to have to decide if it was her best path or if she would do better choosing something else. She had the typical brown eyes and dark skin of Romanian women and although she spoke English well, she spoke it with an accent. Charlie, however, had been smitten with her from the moment he saw her conversing with her cousin, Alin. According to Alin, she had been out of school for quite some time, but had yet to choose a career. She was already twenty-two which was five years past being of age. Charlie, however, did not care about her age or her career. He wanted a date with this vision of a woman.

"Hello," he said. She stood leaning against a fence watching seven men trying to herd one of the mother dragons into a cage. It was making quite a racket, and he hoped she had heard him. The sun was fading in the distance behind the hills.

"Hello, yourself," she replied, and grinned at him. "I appreciate you allowing me to go with your team to this Hogwarts, but don't go doing me any favors. If you don't want me to go, just say so and I will stay here and find something else to do. I'm not lacking money, but I'm bored staying at home all the time." She pouted her lips. He briefly wondered why anyone with money would want this career, but then again, he knew he would choose the same career path if he had money.

"I don't mind. It will be a nice change to have a woman along on the team. It's always the same guys and one intern. Besides, if you don't like it, you can always just stay in Hogsmeade."

"What is Hogsmeade?" Ivana replied, turning to face him as the dragon finally was caged.

"It's the wizarding village we always stay in."

Two weeks later, the team, dragons, and Ivana had safely arrived at Hogsmeade, and Charlie was having a drink at Madame Rosmerta's. Ivana walked in and sat directly across from Charlie after ordering a firewhiskey. "I think we would make a great match, you and I," she stated bluntly, looking him directly in the eyes. Her hair fell around her shoulders and he was mesmerized. "What do you say?"

"You want us to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Charlie managed.

"That is what I said," she replied, her voice husky. "I have a friend in south London that I need to visit before our time here is finished. Is it all right if I go this Saturday, or will you need me around for anything?"

"No, you can go. What on earth made you decide that you wanted me to be your boyfriend?"

"I need someone new. It's been a long time since I was with someone." She winked at him.

"So you were bored?" Charlie raised his eyebrows.

"Trust me, I never get bored." Ivana stood. "Are you coming with me?" she asked. Charlie nodded and followed.

PRESENT

"So we started dating. We dated for about eight months. She kept working with my team and made trips to south London about once a month. I didn't think anything about it at the time. Then, things started going downhill." Charlie stood to pace as he continued the story. Christiana was quite enraptured with it.

"What happened?" she asked, clearly wanting to know the ending.

"Well, first she came to me and told me she was pregnant. I was happy about it but she asked me not to tell my family yet. Of course, I had to tell someone, so I sent a letter to Dad at the Ministry. I told him not to tell Mum or anyone else and he swore not to breathe a word. But then, about six months later, she disappeared. Coincidentally, it was on one of her trips to south London. They had become more and more frequent, and she was going twice a week by that point. I should have seen through it."

"Was she seeing someone else?" Christiana asked, biting her lip with suspense.

"It was much worse than that."

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

"Alin, I'm telling you! She's gone! She went to south London two days ago and hasn't sent me an owl or anything. You've got to help me!" Charlie was frantic. She usually wasn't gone more than a day and sent an owl otherwise. Ivana was a pretty trustworthy girl.

"I can't tell you! I mean, I could, but she made me swear. I can tell you this though. I am not her cousin or any other kind of relation to her."

"Then why did you both say you were? What was the point in that? She could have just as easily gotten an internship here without being related to you or anyone else." Charlie was annoyed now.

"Look, she just wanted a way in, and that seemed the way for her. I agreed to do it because she paid me well. That girl's got a lot of money."

"Did you really even want a job here?" Charlie asked, hoping that it was not complete dishonesty. Ivana being a sham was one thing, but he seriously hoped he had not trained Alin for nothing.

"Yes, and that made it easier. She didn't want to have to pay someone who didn't want a job because it would have cost her more. Not that she didn't have it, but it was just easier for her." Alin crossed his arms.

"You've got to tell me something about how to find her or something. All I know is that she goes to south London. London is a big place. I'll never find her without some help. Come on, man, I'm desperate!" Charlie pleaded.

"Yes, I can see that you are desperate, but you're not going to like what you find. Don't go after her. I know what's there. I know you're going to be hurt. It would be better for you to hurt just knowing that she left you. Don't hurt yourself more finding out why she left you. Some reasons are better left unsaid." Alin turned away.

"If you won't help me—"

"I won't. And that's final." Alin walked away shaking his head and muttering under his breath. Charlie took a deep breath. There was only one other way to find her and that was to Disapparate with her face in his mind, and hopefully he would turn up wherever she was.

PRESENT

"Did you find her?" Christiana asked eagerly. She was on the edge of the bed looking like she was about to fall off.

"Well, not exactly. I mean, I did, but that's not what I got when I first got there. I arrived outside a pub in south London. I gave quite a few people a shock and the Ministry was there all night straightening it out. It turned out she worked there and had only left moments before. I had to walk a while before I found a deserted alleyway to use for Apparition again."

"What happened that time?" she asked.

"Well, that time, I arrived outside an older house. When I went to the door, an old lady answered. I asked for her, and she said that Ivana had in fact been by just moments before but had never lived there. She was nosy, that one, and wanted to know how I knew she had been there. I let the word Muggle slip and that was all I needed to know. She wasn't wizarding kind and I couldn't very well explain the ins and outs of Apparition to her. I just said that she had told me she might drop by here and I might be able to catch her. I don't think the lady believed me, but it didn't much matter. I again had to walk to find a spot for Apparition, and this time, I got the shock of my life."

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

Charlie had arrived in front of a beautiful two-story home with white columns and a brick walkway leading to the front porch. He knew by the looks of this place that this must be where Ivana lived. She had such expensive tastes and this fit her personality. He rang the doorbell and the door opened. Charlie was looking at a four-year-old little girl that looked like Ivana's clone. Charlie didn't like where this was going, but perhaps it was a niece. He knelt down on one knee. She was already wearing pajamas seeing as it was evening and her hair was neatly combed.

"Hi there," he said sweetly.

"Hi," she replied. "Who are you?"

"My name is Charlie. What's your name?"

"My name is Sabina Tudor. Are you my daddy's friend?"

"Actually, no, I'm a friend of a nice lady named Ivana and I was told that she was here. Do you know her?" The little girl giggled.

"Of course I know her! That's my mommy! But she's in the bath right now. I'll get Daddy." Charlie felt his heart hit the floor. Ivana was this little girl's mother? "DADDY!!!!" Sabina called into the house. Almost instantaneously, a tall man appeared behind Sabina and Charlie stood. They were the same height, but Charlie still felt intimidated. The man was obviously of Romanian descent with the dark hair, eyes, and skin coloring and the long nose. His muscles rippled beneath his tight shirt and Charlie hoped that he wouldn't pound him to a pulp when he told him why he was here.

"Hi, I'm Emil Tudor. What can I do for you?" Sabina chose that moment to run off into the house.

"She's beautiful," Charlie stated by way of reply.

"Thank you. We think so." Emil stared at him.

"Is Ivana here?" Charlie asked.

"She is, but she's in the bath. Can I help you with something?"

"How long have you been married?" Charlie asked congenially, not wanting to reveal his reason for being there yet.

"We've been married five years. Ivana was fresh out of school. I couldn't believe she was able to graduate boarding school at seventeen, but she's smart, my Ivana." Charlie understood then that Emil didn't know that Ivana was a witch or anything about the wizarding world. Suddenly, Ivana wrapped in a bathrobe with a towel on her head appeared behind Emil. Her belly was obviously growing with child. She smiled.

"Ah, Charlie, how are you? Emil, Charlie and I went to school together. I'm sure he doesn't have time to stay, so if you will just go make down Sabina's bed, I'll chat with him a moment and be in there for her bedtime story." Emil nodded, and kissed Ivana. He stepped out of the doorway and back into the house, allowing Ivana to take over the doorway.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" she hissed in a hushed tone.

"I came looking for you. You're supposed to be my girlfriend who's pregnant with my child, but I find you with a husband and a daughter. It is fine, Ivana, I understand now. You were bored with him and your life so you came back to Romania to have a little fun, promising to visit home as often as you could. But then things became a lot different when you found out you were pregnant and didn't know if it was your husband's child or mine. You were still staying with me and visiting him until you had that doctor's visit before you came back to London this time. The wizarding doctor was supposed to tell you if the baby was a boy or a girl. I suppose you went ahead and asked him to tell you who it belonged to." Ivana looked guilty as charged. "So—correct me if I'm wrong, now—you found out it was Emil's and you came straight home to him. What story did you feed him as to why you were home to stay?"

"I told him that I was just getting too big and tired to keep up the travel. I wanted to be home with him and my little girl. She's practically been a year without me."

"So, Ivana, what was I? Was I just a time-filler? Or did you really have feelings for me? Or was I just different from the same old thing you were used to? I'll tell you. You never cared about me. You were bored! You're still bored. You're here out of obligation. When are you going to tell him you're a witch? What are you going to do when Sabina turns eleven and she gets that letter? He's going to leave you then, for sure. He's not one of us, Ivana! Can't you see that? I'm not asking you to leave him for me. I'm just telling you what's going to happen." Charlie turned to walk away. He was crying and he didn't want her to see it.

"Wait, Charlie." He stopped but did not turn back to face her. "I did care about you. But this is my family. You're right that I wanted something different, because, you see, this was an arranged marriage. I was unhappy, but now I see that this is where I belong. I cannot desert my daughter. And you're right about Emil—he probably will leave me. But that I cannot help. Don't wait for me, Charlie. Go find someone who deserves you."

PRESENT

Christiana stood now with her hands pressed over her mouth in disbelief. She was speechless. Charlie stood looking out the window and he turned to face her. His face was streaked with tears at the memories.

"What kind of a person does that to someone else?" she whispered.

"Ivana," he replied. "You're the only one who knows outside of Mum and Dad. Even my brothers don't know. I never brought her home. Now, I'm glad I didn't." He shoved his hands in his pockets. Christiana walked over to him.

"I am sorry it happened for you, but I won't treat you pitifully. However, I do think now is a good time for a hug." She embraced him with all the passion she had in her and he resumed kissing her, only this time with more fervor than before, if that were possible. She threaded her hand through his curls as he was pulling her close. She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that this was the man with which she wanted to share her life.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Christiana rolled over to sunlight coming through the curtains. She rolled so far, in fact, that she rolled into something…or someone. She pushed herself up on her elbow to see Charlie still slumbering peacefully with one arm up above his head and one arm across his chest. The sheet only came up to his waist and his finely toned chest rose and fell slowly with each deep breath. She just lay there watching him letting the memories of the night before flood her mind. She began thinking about her feelings for Charlie and decided finally that she definitely had feelings for him—passionate feelings, as a matter of fact—but she was not ready to say she loved him, even if it were true. She didn't want to jump headfirst into something so serious. A relationship though…

"Hi." Charlie's voice broke through her reverie, and she reddened, realizing that not only had she been staring at him lost in thought, she had not even realized he had awakened and been staring back.

"Good morning," she responded when she found her voice, unable to tear her eyes away from his. He put the arm that had been above his head around her waist and pulled her to him for a kiss.

"Would you like some coffee?" he asked after pulling back from her.

"That sounds great. I'm just going to get a shower first while you make it." She was about to get out of the bed when she noticed she had not a spit of clothing on her body. She decided just to pull the sheet with her, only she pulled it right off of Charlie who also wasn't wearing anything. He just grinned and slid a pair of boxers on when she turned even redder than before. He walked around the bed and kissed her before exiting and heading to the kitchen. She wrapped up in the sheet, grabbed some clothes and walked past the kitchen and into the bathroom for a hot shower.

Charlie was making coffee and looked at the time. It was already nine, but he knew that they had not slept enough to constitute a good night's sleep. He was glad the shop didn't open up until noon. It would give him a little extra time with Christiana before she had to work. George and Percy would still be sleeping. No doubt they had partied the night away and only just gotten to bed two or three hours earlier. Charlie knew his brothers. Percy had really loosened up over the last year. He had really begun to enjoy life a lot more. Due to all the partying that Charlie was certain had befallen the night before, he was much surprised to find a groggy-looking George traipsing into the kitchen.

"Hey, George, what are you doing up so early?" Charlie raised his eyebrows in George's direction still getting things together for the coffee.

"I wanted to pee but seeing as the bathroom is occupied, I decided to see who was in the kitchen," George retorted.

"Ah, so you're going back to bed after your visit to the loo?" Charlie asked, smirking at his brother's annoyance. He heard the shower stop. "Sounds like she's almost done, little brother."

"Good. Hey, speaking of her, was she here last night?" George asked nonchalantly, running a hand through his already unruly hair which was sticking up in at least five different directions.

"Yeah, she was here." Charlie turned to look at George.

"Well, if she was here, then where were you?" He rubbed his eyes against the bright sunlight.

"I was here, too." Charlie went to the refrigerator which was a lovely Muggle invention that came in handy.

"Then where did you sleep? Percy and I came in around five and you weren't on the couch. Or were you just not back yet?" George seemed more alert now that there was something that peaked his interest. Charlie just smiled mischievously. "You didn't! You—"

"Keep your voice down! She can hear you, you know." Charlie crossed his arms across his bare chest.

"You slept in her bed—with her?!" George asked in a more hushed tone. Charlie only raised one eyebrow at his wide-eyed brother. "Oh, just wait until Mum finds out!"

"Why? Are you going to go blabbing my personal business to the whole family?" Charlie asked looking a bit angry now.

"No, of course not!" George replied indignantly.

"Good. Don't tell Percy either. There are other things that have to be sorted out before any of this comes out at the family dinner table." They both heard the bathroom door open and George turned to leave. He almost smacked into Christiana who was dressed and toweling her hair as she entered the kitchen. She smiled at Charlie, who indicated the table. "Have a seat." He set up the mugs on the table and brought the coffee pot over with the freshly-brewed mix steaming. He poured them both a mug and then sat down. He put a generous amount of sugar and cream in his, stirred, and took a sip. He settled back with it as Christiana fixed hers. There was blissful silence for a moment or two.

"I need to ask you something." Charlie broke the silence.

"Shoot," Christiana replied, raising one eyebrow curiously.

"When are you going to tell Harry about your relation to him?" He sat forward.

"I don't know that I'm ready yet," she answered honestly. She had gotten over the fact that he had read her diary even though she still felt a bit violated by the whole incident. She had decided to put it behind her because of her feelings toward Charlie.

"Look, I'm not trying to rush you into it or anything like that, but you'd better get ready, because Ginny isn't going to be able to keep a secret like that from her husband for very long. I think, knowing Harry, that he would much rather hear it from you than from her. It's bad enough that it's been kept from him this long, but that wasn't your doing. You came forward as soon as you could to let him know, but now you're still hiding it." He sat back again after delivering this speech. It seemed to Christiana that he had been thinking it over the whole time she was in the shower, which in fact he had. He didn't want to see any more of his friends hurt.

"All right, I'll tell him. But when do you think the best time would be?" she asked, nervously twisting her hair around her fingers.

"Well, the sooner the better, really. It would be better if you told him alone, away from everyone. I could take you to his house before you work if you wanted. That way you don't have to go alone. And also, that way, he has the rest of the day to get over his anger at Snape and whoever else knew and never told him. Hey, what's wrong?" He saw the tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm really scared! I'm afraid he's going to hate me for not telling him his whole life!" She put her face into her hands, not bearing him being able to see her cry again after last night. He came around the table and pulled her up out of her seat and against him.

"He's not going to be angry with you! He might be angry with the others that could have told him and chose not to, but they ordered you not to tell. If you had, your life could have been at stake and I think he will understand that. But you're never going to know if you don't just tell him. Ginny loves him too much to keep it from him. I promise he will be more grateful to you for telling him rather than keeping it a secret until he finds out from her." She nodded against him. "Let me get a quick shower and we'll go over there, all right?" He gave her a quick kiss, took a sip of his coffee, and went down the hallway.

She sank down in her chair and finished off her coffee. She couldn't believe that she was about to finally tell her biggest secret to the person who she feared most knowing it. Of course, Charlie was right. She had to tell him, because now Ginny knew and Ginny was the closest to Harry, closer than anyone else. She let her mind wander to different scenarios of what the scene would look like once it actually took place. What exactly was she going to do? She couldn't exactly just walk up to him and say, "Hiya, Harry, I'm your sister. Yeah, you know how Severus Snape always loved your mum? Well he's my dad and she's my mum too only she didn't remember due to a memory charm. Oh yeah, Dumbledore knew as well and chose not to divulge this particular bit of information to you." She supposed that little speech would really get him going. He would be angry with everyone involved and she didn't want that. She certainly didn't want him to be angry with her for not coming forward. She had known all her life, hadn't she? She could have sent him an owl any old time she wanted to just so long as he had kept it secret. She sighed.

She rose from the table, still trying to plan a decent speech. She decided to take the box of photographs and news clippings about him with her. It might help if he could see those along with the letters her father had sent her. She was quite unsure about the whole thing. How did you tell your brother that you're his sister when he's never known about you? Maybe she would just hand him the box of letters and pictures and let him sort it out for himself. That way she wouldn't have to really tell him. She could just answer questions and tell the whole story from the beginning. Then again, maybe the beginning would be a helpful place to start. She leaned on the counter and put her head in her hands. This whole thing was starting to give her a bit of a headache.

An hour later, Charlie steered a very nervous Christiana up to the doorway of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It had been completely renovated when Ginny and Harry had married and it looked simply marvelous. Unfortunately, the portrait of Mrs. Black had yet to be removed since they still couldn't figure out how to get it down. This was what Charlie was warning Christiana about on their way up the steps.

"She makes quite a racket upon new people entering the house. Harry keeps the curtain over the picture, but honestly, she's rather annoying if it ever opens. She goes on and on about mudbloods disgracing the most noble house of Black. You'd think she'd hush up now that she's been told that You-Know-Who is dead, but she's still on about it." He gave her a wry grin as he used the heavy knocker. Ginny opened the door.

"Please tell me you're going to tell him," she said immediately upon seeing the two of them.

"Why do you ask?" Charlie replied.

"He knows something is bothering me and he keeps asking me what it is. I can't hold out much longer. I tell him everything." Ginny sighed. "I've been holed up reading so he will stop asking me questions. But honestly, I can't keep doing that." Her face showed tenseness, and her voice was etched with tiredness and she sounded a bit edgy.

"Yes, Ginny, I'm going to tell him. That's why I brought this box along. I thought it might help in the telling." Christiana was so nervous that her voice shook, but she managed a small smile.

"Good," Ginny replied with considerable relief showing on her face. "I'll take you to the kitchen and I'll just fetch Harry, then. I think he's a bit upset with me, but hopefully after you explain everything it will clear up." She gave them her usual sunny smile and led them to the kitchen, after which she nipped up the stairs.

"Don't worry," Charlie said, noticing the far-away look in Christiana's eyes. "I'm going to be right here. I'll even help you explain if you need me to. I don't really know that much about it, but I'll help, all the same. Just think—you and Harry are both going to have family in each other. That's something Harry has never had. I mean, he stayed with that aunt and uncle of his, but really you couldn't call them family. They disliked him very strongly. And you—you had your father but never got to stay with him. You never knew your mother. You two have so much in common. And your eyes…I'm quite surprised Harry hasn't seen the resemblance before now. They look just like Harry's and Harry always told me that folks said he had his mother's eyes."

"What's that about my mother's eyes?" Harry asked good-naturedly as he entered the kitchen. "Please tell me you're not commenting how much mine look like hers again. You didn't even know her, Charlie!" Harry chuckled.

"No, no, not at all—actually, we came here to discuss something of great importance with you." Harry sat across from them at the table. He eyed the box sitting there with its lid still on.

"Is there anything alive in there?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"No," Charlie replied, a merry smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Christiana reached over and removed the lid to the box. She looked in at everything. What should she begin with? She replaced the lid, thinking it best to explain some things first before bombarding him with the pictures and letters.

"Harry," she began, faltering a bit. Charlie gave her a nod of encouragement. She took a deep breath. "We have a connection, you and I. Not just because we're both magical. No, it goes much deeper than that. But I suppose I should start at the beginning, or I'll confuse you. I was born to a wizard and a witch who were very much in love, but much too young to be parents at the time. I was given to a family of Muggles by the name of Dalton shortly after my birth. They knew the state of things but still agreed to raise me. They were given a pension…it was sort of like Muggle foster care. My father, as he got older, stayed in touch with me. However, my mother fell quite out of love with my father in their last year at school at which point she fell in love with another man and went on to marry him. Her memory had been wiped clean of me anyway. He knew, but she didn't anymore. She and the other man went on to have a little boy together, but unfortunately she and her husband were murdered and their son left orphaned. So, you see, I have a half-brother. Do you follow me so far?" Christiana was nervous, but Harry looked enraptured by what he had heard so far.

"Oh, yes. I do love a good wizard story," Harry replied.

"I was sent to Beauxbatons for fear that my identity would be discovered and revealed at Hogwarts. I could not even participate in the Triwizard Tournament because of who I am. You see, my half-brother attended Hogwarts and had been in a considerable amount of life-endangerment already. He didn't need me to make it worse. However, I kept up with my half-brother through every scrap of news my father could send me about it. My father was a professor at Hogwarts. Dumbledore knew of my existence, having been the one to perform the memory charms." Christiana stopped to take a breath.

"So I went to school with your half-brother? What's his name? I'll bet I know him." Harry looked eager to hear more.

"There's more. Recently, my father gave his life for the cause of the downfall of the Dark Lord Voldemort." She shuddered at uttering his name. "And then, Lord Voldemort was defeated and I could finally reveal my identity without worrying that I would further endanger my brother. You see, Harry, my brother defeated Voldemort. My father was none other than Severus Snape, the Potions master at Hogwarts. And my mother was Lily Evans, one and the same as your mother Lily Potter. So you see, Harry, you know my half-brother very, very well, because my half-brother is you."


End file.
